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the happiness and enjoyment of mankind; if I have recalled the sparkling lustre to the languid eye, and the bloom of youthful beauty to the pale cheek; if these things constituted me an empiric, I cheerfully accept the imputation, and will glory in the name.”
The distinctions which Dr Hamilton obtained do not require to be very minutely detailed. He was one of the original Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was elected President of the College of Physicians in 1792, having been President of the Harveian Society the preceding year. The Managers of the Royal Infirmary, and the Governors of Heriot’s Hospital testified their sense of his valuable services by requesting him to sit for his picture, and by voting him their thanks. A still more substantial tribute to his excellencies was rendered to him by the confidence which his numerous patients reposed in him. It would be superfluous here to dwell on the features of a character which was so universally respected. To all that is most valuable in the literature of his profession, he added the accomplishments of a perfect gentleman. Retaining through life some peculiarities of exterior which sat very gracefully on him, he was most unobtrusive and unaffected in his manner. He was a lover of peace,
